The Trip of a Lifetime (Heide Park)(7/24/02)

Sean F.

Monday, September 23, 2002 7:47 PM

Part 14- Heide Park

“This is one of the best steel coasters I have ridden!”.......

As expected, we had another early morning. This time, we departed at 6:30am. Since this was another luggage day, we had to get up a bit earlier than normal, although, it seemed that luggage days were the norm for now on. The first week we didn’t have a whole lot of luggage days as we stayed at Pontin’s in Blackpool for 4 nights.

We had an hour and a half drive to our next park. On the day we were welcomed by rain. We have had amazing weather since the tour started and hadn’t had rain during any of the ERTs. I had a feeling this was about to change, as it didn’t look like it was letting up. We arrived at Heide Park and were welcomed by someone in the camping area who told us where to park. This person also told us that we weren’t to enter the park until it was open. He wasn’t aware of the ERT we had lined up and argued a bit with the coach drivers that we weren’t going to get into the park any earlier than normal park guests. Finally, someone from inside the park came out to greet us and led our coaches to the back of the park.

As we were driving through this area, we got our first glimpse at what we were going to ride for ERT. There were a lot of comments heard about the look of this mammoth machine. Some were insisting it would be too rough, where others were confident it would be smooth. There was only one way to find out. As soon as we were parked, we made our way into the park and to the coaster.

===Colossos===(#470)

This was our second Intamin wooden coaster of the trip. When the park announced this ride, they claimed it would be the tallest wooden coaster in the world. They must not have heard about the 218-foot tall Son of Beast coaster at Paramount’s King Island because that is actually the tallest. Still, would the shorter height of Colossos make for a smoother ride?

This coaster uses a brand new track design. The coaster arrived to the park like a steel coaster does, in sections. The sections were bolted together instead of being cut and constructed right at the park. The trains look very similar to those Intamin steel creations found on their Mega Coasters but these wooden trains sit 3 rows per car instead of the standard two. It was now time to see what this was all about.

It was raining on and off during our ERT. Some folks got a good soaking while riding while others remained fairly dry. There was a German TV crew video taping us and interviewing a few people as they got off the ride. Joe Campanella was one of these people. For my first ride, I decided to wait for the very front row, but due to a camera mount for the crew, only one train would be able to handle the front row line. With a two-train operation, that wasn’t a big problem.

The train leaves the station and heads up the steep lift. As in typical Intamin style, once the train is partially up the lift, it speeds up sending the train up into the sky at a very rapid pace. At the top of the lift, the train makes a right turn before sending us on one incredible journey. The view from top of the 1st drop looking out is very similar to what you might see on Shivering Timbers at Michigan’s Adventure. All you could see is hills up ahead.

We soared down the first drop and up and over the second huge hill. I don’t think I have ever gone over a hill of that size, that quickly. It was amazing how fast that trains go over it. The airtime was superb. I really didn’t think it was going to feel as powerful as it did. We dove down to the ground again and up into another huge hill, once again, airtime filled. While going over those two hills, the train makes a very odd sounding, “Brrrrrrrrrrr” vibrating noise as the upstops hit the bottom of the track. That’s about the loudest sound you year on the entire ride because of the polyurethane wheels the trains use.

Up once again and tossed into a curving right-hand drop. This takes us back the direction we just came. A couple smaller hills follow that produce more speed. We then rose into the top of a downward helix. It was going through this helix that you can clearly feel where the track sections connect as there is a weird kind of bouncing felt while going over the joints. After the helix, we flew over three more incredible bunny hops, which gave us some more airtime. A sharp right hand turn ends the ride before hitting the final magnetic brakes.

In one word, “WOW!!!!!!”

I was totally blown away by Colossos. I am not sure who said wooden coasters don’t work if they are over 125-tall, but they must get to Heide Park and ride this creation. I have never been on a wooden coaster that felt this smooth. There was not a hint of typical wooden coaster roughness anywhere. It did provide a very unique feeling because you knew you were on a large wooden coaster, but it sure didn’t feel like it. I heard a couple of people claim that they didn’t even count it as a wooden coaster because of how smooth it felt.

I had to ride this again so I went back around and rode as many times as possible. The back row seemed to give me the best rides for me. During one ride, I closed my eyes and imagined I was on a large steel coaster. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference. The only thing that would remind me I wasn’t on a steel coaster was the strange sound, as the train would fly over a hill at great speed.

I know a lot of people won’t agree with what I have to say, but I would love to see one of these in the US in the future, and if the rumors are true, we might see one next year. I think a lot of people would be surprised at how well a coaster like this runs. I had heard there used to be trim brakes on Colossos but were removed. I could easily spot where they used to be installed because the mounting brackets were still in place. After our ERT, I went into a gift shop to look to see if there was a nice shirt I could get with the name on it. While there were some shirts, none of them stood out to me. I don’t like to wear black coaster shirts anymore and all the shirts I saw in the gift shop were black with a yellow graphic.

As soon as our ERT ended, the park opened and most everyone went running for Colossos. I can easily see why because I found it to be a fantastic coaster. I walked around the park a bit to find something else to ride. This park is huge. There is some elevation changes in it that make walking a chore at times, but there was always something at the top of a hill worth checking out. There was a nice looking bobsled I wanted to ride so I went there next.

===Bobahn===(#471)

This Mack Bobsled had a much hidden layout. The station was pretty large and if I remember correctly, it was running 5 trains or more. This was easily the longest bobsled I have ridden. Just when I thought it would be ending, there would be another curve. One of the coolest moments of this coaster was passing thorough a surprise dark tunnel. I remember there being a straight uphill section also before a block brake. I haven’t seen many sections like that on bobsled rides before. The ride ends with a lift back up into the station. While the ride was fun, it was also pretty jarring. There was a very obvious bouncing sensation in the train we were riding in. I talked with a few others on other trains and they said they didn’t feel anything. It must have been the train I was riding in.

There was another coaster at the bottom of the large hill we walked up to get to bobsled. Previously, the only info I had ever seen on this next coaster was checking out a version of it on the No Limits coaster simulation program.

===Big Loop===(#472)

This Vekoma creation is almost an exact mirror image of Dragon Fire at Paramount Canada’s Wonderland. I was caught off guard as the train dispatched without all the shoulder restraints being lowered. A lone ride operator would lower each restraint, as the train would crawl by him as it left the station.

The ride has a straight first drop followed by two vertical loops. I don’t know the reason for it, but both loops gave me that “gut wrench” feeling that I sometimes feel on drop rides. I usually don’t get that sensation at all anymore with the exception of a few coasters, but it was nice to have that feeling back a bit. The ride continues with a curve, two corkscrews, and an ending helix. Overall I found Big Loop to be a very smooth ride. The exit for this ride stood out because you walk in between two lanes of water with no handrails or guards. You could easily push someone into the water if you wish. You gotta’ love it!

One thing I noticed about the park so far was the obvious American theming around it. There is a large lake that sits in the middle of the park. In the center of the lake sits a version of the Statue of Liberty. There was also a fighter jet with a red, white, and blue paint scheme near the bobsled coaster. Also near that coaster was a SLC called Limit. It appeared this coaster was down for the day as it currently had no roof and looked like a construction area. So far, this was only the second coaster of the tour that was down. Not too bad if you think about it considering all we had ridden so far. There was also a large section of the park where every ride was painted white and green. The SLC, Big Loop, Condor, Top Spin, and a few other things were all painted those colors.

As I was waiting in line at Six Flags Holland’s Goliath the previous day, I met two ACE members from California named Eric Sakowski and JoJo Cortes. Eric is a fellow writer for ECC’s First Drop as me so I knew of his name. I remembered seeing JoJo on one of the old ACE videos that the club used to produce in the early nineties. Both were great to talk to at Six Flags Holland and I ran into them at Heide Park. We decided to hang out a bit and ride some other things. Jojo has got a great sense of humor and had me cracking up all the time. Fellow coach mate Greg Galley was also hanging out with them so we all walked around to check things out.

The park is so large that they installed two observation towers. I could easily see one of them being transformed into a drop ride in the future because it seemed strange to have two when you can pretty much see the same things from each tower. Needless to say, we rode both of them just to do it. While we were at the top of one, we looked down and noticed the river rapids ride. I have never seen so many rafts on one of these rides before. They were spaced out about 10 feet a part of so. We didn’t get to ride it, but it looked like fun.

We also spent some time riding a monorail and a powered coaster, which was nice. We went out to the front gate to take some pictures before trying to find something else to ride. We still had a lot of time to spend in the park and we felt we had done everything we wanted to do with the exception of the river rapids ride. We didn’t want to get soaked so we continued to walk around. We rode Big Loop again before checking out the line for Colossos.

We could tell just from looking at the train going over the hills that it picked up some speed and was probably giving awesome rides. Apparently we weren’t the only ones wanting to ride it because the entire queue was filled. Since there wasn’t much else we wanted to ride, we decided to wait it out. We had some time before our meal was ready, and we all wanted to ride this coaster again.

There is a very large section of the queue that has probably 15 or so switch backs in a row. This section of the line is tilted on an angle so those standing in this section of the line have to stand on a strange angle for a pretty long time. Luckily the line was moving pretty quickly so we didn’t have to stand in these sections very long. I believe we waited just over an hour to get into the station. We decided to wait for a front row. As we were waiting, a man and woman tried to cut in front of us while we were standing in the front line. We explained to them that we had been standing there for a while and were in front of them. Since they didn’t speak any English, and we didn’t speak any German, there was some confusion. The man and woman did stand behind us eventually, but I could clearly see they weren’t happy about it. Oh well, at least I got my ride.

As we had thought, the coaster picked up some serious speed and we were being tossed to the heavens with great force. I really was enjoying my time on this coaster and if the line wasn’t so long, I would have ridden it a few more times, but I declined. As we exited and went walking in front of the station, we noticed some ground clearing going on near the final turnaround on Colossos. We knew at one point he park was going to install a 412-foot tall Tera Coaster near the area we were looking at, but it was canceled. We don’t know what is going on in that area now, but perhaps we will see something big there in the future?

Near Colossos is a large slide complex. While these are mainly designed for children, it didn’t stop many adults from checking it out. We decided to give a few of the slides a ride. There was a spiraling, enclosed slide that must have been 50 feet up in the air. I did two version of that a couple of times before going down a long tunnel that used rollers as a way of getting down. That was pretty cool also and brought back our recent memories of all the fun we had in Southport Pleasureland’s Fun House.

Our meal was nearly ready so we made our way to the place we were to eat. Once we got inside, we went to check out the food. There was some confusion on what we were to eat so instead of the park giving us a meal, they gave us some snacks. We weren’t allowed to take more than 6 pizza bites which pretty much was our meal. I was so hungry it didn’t matter to me what I ate, but I did hear a few unhappy people complaining about the food. Tim Baldwin also found me and told me that we had a Coach Captain meeting in a few moments. He apologized to everyone for the food situation but I don’t think anyone would hold Tim responsible for that. It was just a mix up in planning. That’s it.

After our meal, it was time to head out of Heide Park. While the park didn’t have loads and loads of rides, it did have Colossos, and I would not hesitate on coming back again to ride it if I were in the area again. I had a great time hanging out with Eric, JoJo, and Greg for most of the day. We hit it off and had a blast in the process.

We had a 3-hour drive ahead of us. Midway though the drive, we got to make a comfort stop at the side of the Autobahn. It was around this area that Nigel pointed out there was basically no speed limit. While our coach had to retain a certain speed, a lot of cars didn’t. As we were pulled off, Chris Trotter, Mike Parker, Alan Conceico, and myself stood behind a concrete wall next to the roadway and watched as some cars would pass us going at least 110 mph or more. I would even bet there were a few cars going around 130mph. It was quite a site to see and I tried to video tape as much as I could. My poor camera by this point in the tour was not in good shape. Most every time I video taped, the image would become green and smeared unless I held the lens a certain way or if I smacked the side of the camera. Doing one of those would make the image look good for a while.

Each coach would be staying at separate hotels again so each coach pretty much went there own way once we got near our destination. The Orange Coach was to stay near the airport in Cologne. According to the brochure we had from the hotel, we were to take the first Ausfahrt (exit) passed the airport and get off. We did everything the map told us to do. However, the first exit we took didn’t take us much anywhere so we tried to get back onto the main roadway. The only problem was the only entrance took us back towards the airport so we had to go to the airport, turn around, get back on the motorway, and hope to find the correct exit. Nigel made a phone call to the hotel. As it turns out, the hotel map was wrong. The hotel was 5 exits past the airport. We arrived a half-hour late. When I went into the hotel lobby to get all the room keys, I brought up the fact that the map says something completely different than what was true. To my amazement, the woman behind the counter acknowledged the bad map and said there was work being done to correct it as it was an old map. Hmmm.

After I handed out keys to everyone, I went up to my room to stow away our luggage. Joe and I were hungry so we went across the street to a gas station and picked up a few things. For a second there, I thought I was back in America as the convenient store looked almost exactly what you would expect to see back home. I think Joe even picked up on this as we were leaving. For some reason, I expected gas stations to be a bit different in Germany.

I went back to my room and ate a bit of what I purchased. My roommate Jeff Johnson was finishing up his trip report on his PDA before he went to sleep. I feel asleep watching a bit of German TV. Tomorrow was a strange day for us because we were going to get the chance to do something non-coaster related (GASP!) and we had another early start (aren’t they all?).

Up next………..

A trip to the amazing Cologne Cathedral and an amazing Expedition. Thanks for reading,

SFgadvMAN

baclueless

Tuesday, September 24, 2002 9:19 AM

Let me just say that Collossus was simply amazing! Im totally on the same page with you. I remember hearing the upstop wheels creating the buzzing noise as the trains raced over the massive hills and wondering what the hell is that noise?! It really was the coolest noise to ever come from a coaster.

On to the rest of the park....This park is very beautiful!! It is probably the first thing that you will notice about Heidi Park. Everything was the perfect green color. I doubt you could even find one piece of dead grass there!

For all the credit wh***s out there, Sean forgot to mention the power coaster, Grotten Blitz! This was such a fun, powerful coaster that took you thru cave scenes at an incredible speed. OK- so the little things impress me. Im sorry. But if I remember correctly, our friends Patti, Claire and Scot had a different story about this ride. Scot put his backpack on the other side of the tracks, since it was only a one train operation, thinking nothing about it. When he got off, his backpack was nowhere to be seen! Yup someone walked off with his pack. They spent the rest of the day searching for it. They looked in every bush, behind every tree just to see if someone dumped it out. There was only one really important item in his bag-----his Passport! The end of the day came and still no sign of it!

In the picture of us above you will notice that Scot is wearing his backpack! Someone turned it in and he got it back a few days later with everything in it.... even his passport! What a happy ending!

For today's TR (Amazing job again Sean!) the pictures are mostly of Colossus. Sorry Sean and your loyal readers!

This is one of my favorite photos of Colossus. The grey skies disappeared and sun came out with the brilliant blue skies above. More photos of Colossus here, here and finally here!

Danielle and I came across a contest going on towards the front of the park. It was a pole sitting contest for the Guiness Book of World Records. If you read the caption below the photo, it will explain a little more! How fun!

This last photo is from the first park we visited, Thorpe Park. I just thought it was a nice photo to include, even though it is a little late in the game. Im sorry!

Hey Sean, guess what, only two more days till Europa!!! Yeah! For those that werent there will soon find out why Im so excited about Europa! Im sure that Sean will explain why!

CPLady

Tuesday, September 24, 2002 10:24 AM

I can't wait to read your report about the Cathedral in Cologne. My husband's mother grew up in a village just outside Cologne. Someday I hope to visit Germany with my husband to visit relatives, and make the trip to Heide Park. As much as I love Shivering Timbers, Colossus sounds like it would be a real treat!

PaulD

Tuesday, September 24, 2002 11:34 AM

When the park announced this ride, they claimed it would be the tallest wooden coaster in the world. They must not have heard about the 218-foot tall Son of Beast coaster at Paramount’s King Island because that is actually the tallest. Still, would the shorter height of Colossos make for a smoother ride?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I am certain the park just wanted the tallest Woodie in Europe award and Not the Tallest Woodie in the world, so techniclly the coaster still holds a record :)

We knew at one point he park was going to install a 412-foot tall Tera Coaster near the area we were looking at, but it was canceled. We don’t know what is going on in that area now, but perhaps we will see something big there in the future?

Well apparently, The 412ft Giga Coaster that was proposed was indeed cancelled, but then I believe the park put in new plans for the same kind of coaster, but at a reduced height of something like 300-320 ft. I even believe they tryed to get the 412ft version at the other side of the park, but that was apparently refused, which is why they went back to the orginal location with the reduced height version????? Prehaps they have now got planning permission for this new designed coaster which is what the land clearing is all about??????? I could be wrong, and it may be for something else but I'm sure thats what I heard, anyone know more?????

Also Sean, was the last park Parc Asterix???? Does that mean from your comment you did not do this park?????? this is a shame, because I would have loved to have read a review of this park as I am planning to visit it next year FINALLY. Oh well, did anyone else visit park asterix on that trip who could write out a review????

Charles Nungester

Tuesday, September 24, 2002 2:46 PM

whats the point in a woodie that don't feel like wood?

Part of the thrill of Shivering timbers is the vibration ect that gives the ride it's charicter. I love woodie feel as long as it is not painful. Heck washboard hurts bad even on small coasters like Skyliner.

Chuck says the ride probably is thrilling though, I would like to get there.

----------------- Charles Nungester. Is it about coasters or friends? I say both!

Eurpo-mir

Tuesday, September 24, 2002 5:48 PM

Hey sean! its Bill Harrison(donna's son) from the trip. Great TP's!!!! Did you notice at heide on the observation tower near the bobsled that race track like thing??? I have a theory that park VIP's would take the Jaguars, Porsches, and those other cars out for a test ride! boy i'd kill to take that Jag XJ220 for a spin(for everyone else-near colossus there was a glass building full of exotic european cars-if I recall they were a Jaguar XJ220 and XKR15, TWO Porsche 959's!!!!!, a BMW M1, Two souped up Mercedes-Benz's, and a 1980's Formula 1 car.)!!!!

Sean F.

Tuesday, September 24, 2002 9:02 PM

CPLady said: I can't wait to read your report about the Cathedral in Cologne. My husband's mother grew up in a village just outside Cologne. Someday I hope to visit Germany with my husband to visit relatives, and make the trip to Heide Park.

I just posted the report a few minutes ago with some pictures. I enjoyed my time in the city.

As much as I love Shivering Timbers, Colossus sounds like it would be a real treat!

It was truly and amazing ride and I would love to see one over here sometime.

Sean F.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I am certain the park just wanted the tallest Woodie in Europe award and Not the Tallest Woodie in the world, so techniclly the coaster still holds a record

I guess you are right. I was under the impression the park was going for the "world's" title.

Well apparently, The 412ft Giga Coaster that was proposed was indeed cancelled, but then I believe the park put in new plans for the same kind of coaster, but at a reduced height of something like 300-320 ft. I even believe they tryed to get the 412ft version at the other side of the park, but that was apparently refused, which is why they went back to the orginal location with the reduced height version????? Prehaps they have now got planning permission for this new designed coaster which is what the land clearing is all about??????? I could be wrong, and it may be for something else but I'm sure thats what I heard, anyone know more?????

We did look at the other side of the park from one of the towers and took note that it was a large area that could hold a large coaster, but there wasn't any land clearling going on. I could easily see something going in that area in the next couple of years though.

Also Sean, was the last park Parc Asterix????

Yes, on the official tour. I did a couple more parks after that though.

Does that mean from your comment you did not do this park?????? this is a shame, because I would have loved to have read a review of this park as I am planning to visit it next year FINALLY. Oh well, did anyone else visit park asterix on that trip who could write out a review????

Yes, the report from that park is after the Europa report. Sorry for the misleading comments.

Sean F.

Eurpo-mir said: Hey sean! its Bill Harrison(donna's son) from the trip. Great TP's!!!!

Hey Bill! Nice to see you posting on here and I am glad you are enjoying the reports.

Did you notice at heide on the observation tower near the bobsled that race track like thing???

Yep, we sure did.

I have a theory that park VIP's would take the Jaguars, Porsches, and those other cars out for a test ride!

That's funny you should mention that because someone in the group I was with said something similar as we looked down and noticed those tracks.

boy i'd kill to take that Jag XJ220 for a spin(for everyone else-near colossus there was a glass building full of exotic european cars-if I recall they were a Jaguar XJ220 and XKR15, TWO Porsche 959's!!!!!, a BMW M1, Two souped up Mercedes-Benz's, and a 1980's Formula 1 car.)!!!!

That's right. I forgot about that building. I did see it but I didn't go inside. Your mother mentioned to me that you were a big car buff so I know you had to enjoy that, as well as the Silver Star line.

Fawcett_Towers

Wednesday, September 25, 2002 4:24 AM

As an european I must say I´m looking forward for every one of your trip reports with great enjoyment and interest.

Of course I cannot help wondering about the american concern for pc und un-pc-ness. (The Blackpool report comes to mind and I guess you must have been quite shocked by a certain scene in a darkride in HOLIDAY PARK as well. Looking forward to read that;-))

As for the questions concerning HEIDE PARK ("Heide" means "heathenland" or "moor", its not a girls name BTW)

The racetrack is indeed the private playground of the owners family (they sold to Tussaud but are still heavily involved in day to day business). If you remember cresting the lifthill of COLOSSOS, you could see a nice big house with a lake just outside the park. Its their residential home.

Somehow the park manages to promote COLOSSOS as the highest (pure) wooden coaster in the world. They claim that SOB is not a pure woodie, since the loop is made out of steel. This is really hairsplitting as you could argue that the new Intamin tracks are bolted together by steel bolts. Oh, well...advertising... Anyway: It smells like wood and its a brilliant ride. You didnt mention the insane turnaround! This is one scary moment if you sit in 1.1 left side and get yanked to the side while going down at an enormous speed. It almost resembles that shocking scene in the movie "Rollercoaster", as the camera flies over the railings on REBEL YELL for a short moment (if you know what I mean;-))

I think that all the talk and blueprint-flashing of the Tera-coaster was just PR as well. At the moment it seems that the project is CANCELLED completely. Apparently one of the towers is indeed transformed into a Gyro Drop for next season. Just as you suspected.

Sean F.

A lot of people were saying that believe it or not. However, with just one ride, I didn't hear many people complaining. It was a brand new feel.

Part of the thrill of Shivering timbers is the vibration ect that gives the ride it's charicter. I love woodie feel as long as it is not painful. Heck washboard hurts bad even on small coasters like Skyliner.

I have never really paid attention to the vibration on Timbers because I find it to be very smooth. Colossos had the same kind of feel, but smoother.

Chuck says the ride probably is thrilling though, I would like to get there.

Yep, it was indeed thrilling. Probably one of the most thrilling wooden coasters I have ridden. No joke.

Sean F.

As an european I must say I´m looking forward for every one of your trip reports with great enjoyment and interest.

Thanks! It is great to hear feedback from people that live overseas.

Of course I cannot help wondering about the american concern for pc und un-pc-ness. (The Blackpool report comes to mind and I guess you must have been quite shocked by a certain scene in a darkride in HOLIDAY PARK as well. Looking forward to read that;-))

I don't know if we were concerned or not but rather shocked. For most of us, this trip was very relaxed. I don't mean the actual tour, but the state at which the parks operate. In the US, things are much more strict and with all the sue-happy people in this country, we would never see certain things in this country.

Most of what we saw was nice and relaxed, but like the Magic Moutain dark ride scene, I found that to be in bad taste. Perhaps something like that scene isn't a issue but if that was seen over here, it would be different story.

As for the questions concerning HEIDE PARK ("Heide" means "heathenland" or "moor", its not a girls name BTW)

There were a couple of people on the tour that pronouced it as a "girls'"name. After visiting the park, I know it is pronouced "Hide-a" now. I was pronouncing it "Hide-e".

The racetrack is indeed the private playground of the owners family (they sold to Tussaud but are still heavily involved in day to day business). If you remember cresting the lifthill of COLOSSOS, you could see a nice big house with a lake just outside the park. Its their residential home.

Now that I think of it, I think I did notice that area. Thanks for the tidbit.

Somehow the park manages to promote COLOSSOS as the highest (pure) wooden coaster in the world. They claim that SOB is not a pure woodie, since the loop is made out of steel.

Actually, the loop structure is steel, but the track is wood.

This is really hairsplitting as you could argue that the new Intamin tracks are bolted together by steel bolts.

If I remember correctly, there were a couple of steel beams thrown in there also. =:^)

Oh, well...advertising...

Oh yes. Marketing can be sneaky at times.

Anyway: It smells like wood and its a brilliant ride. You didnt mention the insane turnaround! This is one scary moment if you sit in 1.1 left side and get yanked to the side while going down at an enormous speed. It almost resembles that shocking scene in the movie "Rollercoaster", as the camera flies over the railings on REBEL YELL for a short moment (if you know what I mean;-))

I know what you mean. That moment was very cool. I prepared to be banged around but was surprised at how well the train made it through that turn.

I think that all the talk and blueprint-flashing of the Tera-coaster was just PR as well. At the moment it seems that the project is CANCELLED completely. Apparently one of the towers is indeed transformed into a Gyro Drop for next season. Just as you suspected.

Eurpo-mir

Im new(obviously) and i cant figure out how to quote! Could somebody fill me in?

Also,

1. I think that car building is locked because the mannequins would probably be destroyed if it wasn't.

2. Chuckles is a mascot(along with the alligator) at Pontins. I asked my mom to pick me up something from the gift shop while I was waiting on the coach so she picked me up a postcard that had a pic of chuckles on the front and on the back on the discription part it had,"Chuckles, the cheeky monkey at Pontins."